Lost, and Found Again

Brand New Pearl Izumi "Ride Thermal Lite" Gloves with Decade-Old Gloves a Saint Returned and my Orange Hat
While the Orange Hat is "Just a Hat," its Color Probably Helped Find the Gloves

Nearly ten years ago, in a post, here, I related how I bought a pair of good winter cycling gloves (Pearl Izumi Softshell Gloves) at a bargain price at the Hotter 'N Hell 100. Unlike the shoe covers I also reported on at that time, I've gotten almost constant use out of the gloves in colder weather. They're good from about 25 degrees (-4C for any Canadian friends that use French temperature units) up to about 55 (13C). Outside that range and things are either a bit chilly or a little sweaty. For $15 gloves (they sell for about $60 on Amazon), they have proved exceptionally durable and versatile. While they no longer look new, they remain in good overall shape, with only a some of the extraneous rubber non-slip dots falling off through the years. The gloves are a size too big, which turns out to be perfect, since they're easier to get on and off; pretty much mandatory at coffee stops.

Well, they WERE until all this Coronavirus stuff cropped up. You see, as things started to ramp up (while the NYC Mayor was still working out at his local YMCA), people got confused. Even I, grumpy as I sometimes am, elected to purchase groceries for an entire week rather than my usual every-couple of days routine. Well, to make a long story short, that entailed using a shopping cart, and I left my cherished gloves behind, along with an orange hat I frequently use to keep my head warm.

I rode back to see if I could find them, or if they'd been turned in. Alas, I was out of luck. I even looked in the store garbage can in case someone had taken it on themselves to dispose of items that might be contaminated. No luck there, either. Sigh.

Later, at home, I was resigned to purchasing another pair as much like the originals as I could find. I was somewhat dismayed to find the "non summer HH100 price" was $60. In an attempt to be frugal, I bought a pair of lighter gloves, figuring I could always use a liner with them. The cheaper Pearl Izumi gloves were still $20, and, as we will find later, work more in the 50-60 degree range.

The day after the new gloves arrived, I inquired one more time at the grocery store lost and found. Hallelujah! They had them and the mention of the orange hat helped them pick them out of the pile. For the remainder of my ride home, I put those new gloves in the pouch of my hoodie and thought kind thoughts towards every one and every thing. What can I say, I'm not grumpy all the time.

Still, the new gloves were not a waste of money. They do work in the warmer ranges of what we see in Ocean Shores, Washington. Now that we're headed towards May, I can see myself using them frequently. They are called "Pearl Izumi - Ride Thermal Lite Glove" and the blurb on Amazon claims "A top seller, these lightweight unisex gloves are ideal on their own when the weather gets cool. Or use them as liners under our P.R.O. Barrier WxB Gloves in truly cold temperatures." More importantly, the new gloves gave me hope for a brief period that Pearl Izumi made good "not quite so cold" gloves.

Well, they certainly ARE lightweight, but there is no noticable insulation on them. They're just another pair of non-waterproof, full-finger cycling gloves. While I've not tried it yet, they might work well as liners for my softshell gloves for those rare "really cold" Ocean Shores or North Texas mornings. We shall see. OTHO, such mornings also seem to work well with ski gloves.